Wathawurrung language
Wadawurrung, also rendered as Wathawurrung, Wathaurong or Wada wurrung, and formerly sometimes Barrabool, is the Aboriginal Australian language spoken by the Wathaurong people of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria. It was spoken by 15 clans ...
: ''Kunawarr keelingk'' literally meaning ''black swan lake''), a shallow
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula ( Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington ...
southeast of
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
in the
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
.
Location and features
It is adjacent to, and downstream from, the freshwater
Reedy Lake
Reedy Lake, historically also known as Lake Reedy, is a shallow intermittent freshwater lake or swamp on the lower reaches of the Barwon River, on the Bellarine Peninsula southeast of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria.
Location ...
. Lake Connewarre is linked to the sea by the
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
-fringed channel of the lower Barwon River
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
, resulting in the lake being subject to tidal flows, with a
weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
at the inflow to the lake preventing saline water progressing upstream.
Lake Connewarre forms part of the
Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site
The Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site is one of the Australian sites listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. It was designated on 15 December 1982, and is listed as Ram ...
as a wetland of international importance, with much of the wetland area also part of the Lake Connewarre State Game Reserve. However, most of the land surrounding Lake Connewarre has been cleared for agricultural purposes resulting in
environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment (biophysical), environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; an ...
. Water pollution from upriver has also resulted in a drop in water quality, and reduced inflows to the lake have caused silting problems. The lake is shallow being less than one metre in depth and generally unsuitable for boating.
Fauna
The lake and its associated wetlands are part of the
Bellarine Wetlands Important Bird Area
The Bellarine Wetlands Important Bird Area comprises a group of wetland sites, with a collective area of 46 km2, at the western end of the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, south-eastern Australia. The site is important for waterbirds and o ...
because of its conservation significance for several species of
wader
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
s, waterbirds and the
orange-bellied parrot
The orange-bellied parrot (''Neophema chrysogaster'') is a small parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only three species of parrot that migrate. It was described by John Latham in 1790. A small parrot around long, it exhibits sex ...
short-finned eel
The short-finned eel (''Anguilla australis''), also known as the shortfin eel, is one of the 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It is native to the lakes, dams and coastal rivers of south-eastern Australia, New Zealand, and much of t ...
. It also usually contains
yellow-eye mullet
Yellow-eye mullet (''Aldrichetta forsteri''), also known as Coorong mullet (after the Coorong area of South Australia), conmuri, estuary mullet, Forster's mullet, freshwater mullet, pilch, pilchard, Victor Harbor mullet, yelloweye, yellow-eyed ...
,
black bream Black bream may refer to one of several fish species:
* Black drummer, ''Girella elevata''
* Black seabream, ''Spondyliosoma cantharus'', a silvery fish found in northern Europe and the Mediterranean
* Galjoen, ''Dichistius capensis'', the nation ...
and
Australian salmon
''Arripis trutta'', known as kahawai in New Zealand and as the Australian salmon in Australia, is a South Pacific marine fish and one of the four extant species within the genus '' Arripis'', native to the cooler waters around the southeastern ...
. Other fish may be present, depending on
salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...
Connewarre
Connewarre, is a locality in Victoria, Australia, is located in the City of Greater Geelong and Surf Coast Shire, and is named after Lake Connewarre which is situated immediately to its north-east. Connewarre is a version of "kunuwarra", the ...